Welcome to the 1,199th edition of Loading...

Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news, coverage, and
commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.

November used to be the month of MMO expansions, now it seems like every developer is angling for their own spot on a crowded release date calendar. What's behind a mostly expac-less month this year? Is December the new November? Thoughts on this topic, plus links to Brad McQuaid and Star Trek Online interviews you don't want to miss in today's Loading... Expansion Month?

The Pulse

You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the
result is the Ten Ton Pulse ( href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/thepulse/" target="_blank">What
is The Pulse?).

Here's today's top 5 Pulse results: href="http://www.gunnars.com/">

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/41"
   target="_blank">World of Warcraft
2. Dungeons
   & Dragons Online (UP 1)
3. Lord
   of the Rings Online (down 1)
4. EverQuest 2
5. Age of Conan (UP 1)

Biggest movers today:

1. Torchlight (UP 9 to #12)
2. Star Trek Online (UP 9 to #11)
3. DragonAge: Origins (UP 8 to #19)

• 8/25
  - CrimeCraft
  (release date)
• 9/1 -
  Champions
  Online (release date)
• 9/9
  - Dungeons
  & Dragons Online Unlimited (release date)
• 9/15
  - Runes
  of Magic "The Elven Prophecy" (expansion)
• 9/22 -
  Fallen
  Earth (release date)
• 9/22
  - Aion
  (release date)
• 10/8
  - Cities
  XL (release date)

• 11/3
  - Dragon Age:
  Origins (release date)
• 12/1
  - LotRO:
  Siege of Mirkwood (expansion)
• 12/1 - EVE Online: Dominion (expansion)
  
  
• 12/2
  - DOFUS 2.0
  (release date)
• 12/15 - EverQuest: Underfoot (expansion)
  
  
• Early 2010
  - APB
  
• Feb. 2010 - EverQuest 2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)

Loading... Daily

Welcome to November, which is Pancreatic, Diabetes, Lung Cancer, Alzheimer's, and Crohn's Disease Awareness Month, as well as National Novel Writing Month (it's a short month so we'd better get started), and the month that the Roman Catholic church as dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

Perhaps that last one was why, once upon a time, MMO gamers used to view November as "expansion month." Containing the launch date anniversary of EverQuest, EverQuest 2, and World of Warcraft, for a time developers made a habit of throwing their titles a birthday party with retail expansions. Other games, like Dark Age of Camelot, regularly followed suit with November expansions, and Lord of the Rings Online got in on the action with a November release of Mines of Moria last year.

November release dates made sense for a few reasons - it's the holiday season, and what better gift for the gamer in your life than more loot, levels and replayability? November also has that most coveted of gamer possessions - a built-in long holiday weekend. I remember picking up a few EQ expansions before heading home from college for the Thanksgiving holiday - what better way to spend a post-gluttenous stupor than in Velious? Plus, the majority of highly anticipated PC and console titles ship by early November (DragonAge and CoD Modern Combat 2 will round out this year's offerings by Nov. 10th), leaving the more introverted MMO titles with a brief window for marketing impact.

But Blizzard broke the anniversary tradition with a January release of Burning Crusade, and this year Turbine and SOE elected to launch expansion later in the season. LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood, EverQuest: Underfoot, and EVE Online: Dominion are slated to launch in December and EverQuest 2: Sentinel's Fate has been given a fuzzy date of February 2010. The other Pulse Top 10 expansions on the radar, Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, haven't set a release date at this time.

Why the de-Novemberization of MMO retail expansions? With already thin profit margins and blistering expectations from players and investors, it's entirely possible that MMO developers and marketeers found it too hot in the holiday ramp-up kitchen. Pre-orders and account-based download only expansions complicated the mix for non-gamer gift-givers, taking some of the holiday-ness out of expansions. But the simplest explanation is probably the best one - once the industry lost its rhythm, once there was no reason for a November push, everyone opted for what they saw as a clear spot on the marketing schedule. The danger is that MMOs, on the whole, might lose ground against "less online" games in the battle for your gaming time and dollar

Do you miss the days of regular November expansions? Are you playing more non-MMO games this holiday season than you did a year or two years ago? Sound off in the Loading... forums!

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day



From our Articles, News & Events Discussion forum

Fallout MMOG Project V13 - Concept Art



Lawsuits
be damned, Interplay has released some concept art from the Fallout V13
MMOG. How are gamers receiving the idea of a Fallout MMOG? Opinions
seem to vary, as the epic quotes below demonstrate. Head over to our
news forum to view the concept art and have your say.



==============================

Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread



"No good can come of this."



- kitsunegirl



"They have Masthead Studios working with them on it. Shouldn't be hard
for them to produce something pretty amazing as Earthrise sounds like
it is going to be excellent."



- bobfish

==============================



Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell
us!

5 New Ten Ton Hammer MMOG
features today! 5 in November! 2,077
in
2009!



Today's
New Features & Guides

• Managing Fan Expectations - An Interview with Vanguard Visionary Brad McQuaid
  
  http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76193
  
  It’s
  inevitable--as any MMOG nears launch, excitement builds to a fever
  pitch and message boards, from official forums to fansites to network
  communities like Ten Ton Hammer, buzz with activity. But hype for a
  game about to launch can lead to an almost inevitable crash when
  expectations meet reality. Brad McQuaid, the man behind EverQuest and
  Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, has learned a thing or two, sometimes the
  hard way, about keeping fan expectations in check. In one of the first
  interviews with him since the launch of Vanguard, McQuaid speaks
  candidly about fan expectations, and shares his thoughts about how to
  keep them in line.
  
  
  
• Star Trek Online Space Combat Q&A with Exec. Producer Craig
  Zinkievich
  
  http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76232
  
  The excitement continues to build as Star Trek Online entered closed beta less
  than two weeks ago. For part one of a two-part series on space and ground combat
  in Star Trek Online, Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich stopped by to
  specifically discuss how ship-to-ship combat plays out in the final frontier.
  What role will ship type, speed, maneuverability, and tactics play in battle,
  and can your friends join in your encounter or instance at any time? As
  importantly, how will Star Trek Online preserve the "bridge drama" and
  atmosphere that has made Star Trek space combat so compelling for generations?
  Answers to these questions and more in our latest Star Trek Online space combat
  Q&A with Craig Zinkievich.
  
  
  
• DOFUS 2.0 Beta Key Giveaway
  
  http://www.tentonhammer.com/giveaways/dofus
  
  NOTE - Ten Ton Hammer Premium Members only until late Monday, midnight US Eastern. More
  than four years after its release, Ankama reaches another milestone
  with DOFUS - the subscription-based isometric perspective MMORPG. DOFUS
  2.0 is a complete rewrite of the award-winning free-to-play MMO,
  including all-new graphics and a client rewritten from scratch.
  December 2nd is the official release date for the new version, but Ten
  Ton Hammer viewers can experience the DOFUS 2.0 beta starting now!
  
  
  
• DDO Unlimited Necropolis Screenshots
  
  http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76231
  
  The
  Necropolis adventure pack is available through the Dungeons &
  Dragons: Eberron Unlimited store, and it's a doozy. The adventure pack
  comes in four parts, ranging for adventurers levels 5-6, 8-9, 11-12 and
  14-17. Depending on which part you select to do, the Silver Flame and
  Emerald Claw will send you to various areas to uncover the story. Today
  we have five screenshots to give you a little taste as to what awaits.
  
  
  
• EVE Online – Ten Tips to Go From Noob to Noobtastic
  
  http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76238 
  
  It
  can be argued that EVE Online has more depth and complexity than any
  MMOG on the market today. The game’s learning curve has at times been
  compared to an outwardly curving cliff face laced with deadly
  obstacles. Fear not though, true believers, because Eric “Dalmarus”
  Campbell has come up with a list of ten tips to help get you on your
  way.
  

Hottest Content:

1. Managing Fan Expectations - An Interview with Vanguard Visionary Brad McQuaid
2. Star Trek Online Space Combat Q&A with Craig Zinkievich
3. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aion/guides/classes/cleric_healing">The
   Cleric's Guide to Healing in Aion
4. Lord
   of the Rings Online - Siege of Mirkwood Live Preview
5. DOFUS 2.0 Beta Key Giveaway
6. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76238 ">EVE Online – Ten Tips to Go From Noob to Noobtastic
7. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/guides/nemesisbasics">Champions
   Online : Nemesis Basics
8. Sins
   of the Solar Spymaster #30 - Dominion Post-FanFest
9. Global
   Agenda: Conquest and Pricing Interview
10. Recession
    Proof Gaming

- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer
team